Time
by Gossu
Summary: Oreki Houtarou is content with his life of non-adventuring. Constantly doing the same thing each day is not bothersome for him until he met the girl who's a walking adventure herself. Magic-AU.
1. The Classics Circle

**Tried my best to write a fantasy AU of Hyouka. It will be through the perspective of the characters, mostly Houtarou. Hope you like it.**

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**Oreki Houtarou**

_Main characters…what are they? The focus of the story, the one that will overcome problems, the one whose life get handed to on a silver platter._

_Some would say everyone is the main character of their own life and some would say that in certain circumstances, you could also be the main character of another person's life._

Even as the sun is beating down, my hand was still busy; scribbling away today's reports. I was not alone however as Fukube Satoshi, one of my friends, was also scribbling away at his reports.

While talking about a new discovery of some hidden temporal temples or something.

I saluted him mentally as I personally knew that he joined a lot of circles. Which means more reports. Compared to the standard one that I was making, Satoshi must had piles of reports to fill out.

_Personally, main characters are overrated. Who would want to waste their energy on pointless, trivial problems? Who would want to get entangled into other people's problems? _

_After all…_

"If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick. Right?" I could feel the smirk on Satoshi's face even without looking.

"What are you talking about?" I inquired on how he was able to finish my train of thoughts. Stopping his arm, he crossed both of them.

"You really need to fix that habit of thinking out loud."

"Well sorry that I just want to share my perspective with the world." I made up a quick excuse. Continuing his job of writing down his reports again, Satoshi stayed quiet for a moment before responding.

"Stop lying, Houtarou." His face pulled into a small smile, "The Houtarou I know would be all about conserving energy."

His smile was contagious and I soon found my face plastered with a little grin.

"You know me too well." Putting the finishing touches on my report, I stood up. "Well, I'm going to hand in my report and my application form."

As I turned around, I heard something small crashing onto the wooden table. I quickly turned back and found Satoshi with a face that saw hell itself.

He quickly stood up, almost knocking over the chair that he was sitting in, and grabbed my shoulder. He pulled my face closer to his, as if peering into my soul.

"Personal space…" I muttered, hoping he would get my discomfort.

"Houtarou…You're Houtarou, right? The energy conserving, never do anything, always slacking Houtarou?!"

I should feel offended at those descriptions but I let it slide.

"Yes, I am."

He released my shoulder, which I am grateful of, and hold his face in anguish.

"That's not possible." He looked at me again, "By application form, you mean the application form to join a circle?"

"If by circle, you mean an expedition group, then yes."

"B-But you always decline any invitation to join a circle!" He shouted exasperatedly as if the fate of the world hangs in my joining of a circle or not.

I sighed deeply.

"My sis," I took out a letter from my pocket and handed it to him. "Wants me to join the Classics group so that it won't be discontinued."

Reading the letter briefly, Satoshi's face turned into one of pure bliss. "I see. There's no way Houtarou would join a circle without any threats."

"Now that you understand, I'll be on my way. See you later." I waved at him.

Closing the door of the general room, I slowly walked down the hall. Even if I joined the circle, it would still be discontinued anyway as a circle needs two members at the very least. I was sure that sis would know that beforehand.

So why?

I handed my reports to the guild leader and quickly left towards the Classics Circle headquarter.

_I'm sure main characters get tired of being entangled with other people's life and probably their own life as well. Life is unfair, why can't I be the side character of my own life? _

_Well, if life allowed me to become the side character; I guess it wouldn't be unfair. Then again…_

I reached my destination. A wooden board with the "Classics Circle" written on it was pinned above the wooden door. It looked quite old so I carefully pushed the door open into the dusty, unused room that is the headquarter of the Classics Circle.

But not everything there was old.

A figure with moderately long hair was gazing out into the sunset. It appeared that she didn't notice me yet so I set down my bag and decided to introduce myself to her.

I noticed something different around her though. Distortions were around her but I dismissed it as having a migraine.

Before I could walk, I could feel something creeping up my leg. Seconds passed by and the thing was getting tighter and tighter. I looked down and spotted a vine, firmly rooting me to the floor.

No, vine isn't right. It is something akin to flower stems, with variety of colorful flowers growing along it. Nevertheless, I was scared.

The girl finally noticed me and turned around.

"H-Hello." I greeted her nervously, hoping that she would catch on and remove those flowers stem from my legs.

"Ah, hello!" She did a perfect bow, radiating a courteous aura. Seeing as she didn't notice my discomfort, I requested her slowly.

"Excuse me but can you remove the vines or flowers entangling my feet?"

She appeared confused but came to a realization. "S-Sorry! I was just…thinking about my garden. I did not know that my power can reach that far."

The flowers released me and I could feel my leg moving around freely again. I inspected my body more to see if any remains of the flowers are still on me.

"Name?"

"Eh?" A rather straight forward question for a petite girl like her.

"I'm asking what is your name."

"Oreki Houtarou." I extended my hand and she shook it gently.

"Chitanda Eru. Nice to meet you."

I nodded my head and was about to leave until I remembered about the application form.

"Are you by any chance a Classics Circle member?" I asked her.

She firmly nodded "Actually, I only became a member today."

If she was a member then that means I don't have to join, even if the circle will not be completed. Then again, I could always ask Satoshi for a favor.

"Ah, that's nice." I moved towards the door. "It was nice meeting you. Good b-."

Before I could open the door, it was swung right in my face. I stumbled backward and held my nose. Hopefully, it wasn't broken.

I moved to the side and saw the one that did it was none other than Satoshi. He looked around before spotting me and smiling, oblivious to the deeds that he had done.

"What are you doing here, Satoshi?" I was holding my nose so it probably came out as a muffled sound.

"I was thinking on how you would be lonely if you were in the Classics Circle alone so I decided to drop by but…" I saw his eyes darting around to Chitanda. "I see you already have a company. A rather pretty one at that."

I sighed at his attempt to tease and turned to Chitanda, who was quite flustered. I raised my eyebrow on how she could get flustered from a bad tease like that.

"I'm Fukube Satoshi, by the way." He said with a smile.

"I'm Chitanda Eru. Nice to meet you." Another perfect bow.

I grabbed my bag and headed out to the door once more but was firmly stopped by a hand on my shoulder.

"What is it this time, Satoshi?"

"Don't be like that." He smirked, making that face. The face which could lead me to wasting my energy. "I just happened to overhear a certain mystery from the guild administration."

"Good for you. Bye." I headed out again but this time, something forcefully pulled me back; almost making me fall.

The perpetrator was Chitanda, surprisingly. I never thought a girl of her size could have that tremendous strength.

"Oreki-san! Please stay, I want to hear what you think of this!" I also did not expect her to be a girl that would invade other people's privacy so easily. Her face was close to mine.

Too close.

I turned to look at Satoshi who still had that smirk on his face. "So, what did you hear ?"

He wagged his finger before pointing to one of the bookcase. "That bookcase. Behind it is a door, completed with a seal."

Chitanda clasped her hands together. "Ooo, is it a sealed door to some treasure?"

"Not quite…" Satoshi decided to trail off, further igniting the curiosity between Chitanda. Seeing as Chitanda was fully immersed in Satoshi's story, I decided to sneak out quietly.

Just as I reached for the door knob, I could feel a pull unlike any other pull before. I swear if I resisted, my arm would be dislocated.

The perpetrator was once again Chitanda, who didn't even face me as she questioned Satoshi even more.

"Then what is it for, Fukube-san?"

I could somehow feel my energy drained in one single blow if Satoshi dared to utter another sentence.

"Behind that door is a room. Inside that room is a shrine." No, stop it Satoshi.

"That shrine was originally dedicated to one of the guild leaders who had passed away a long time ago. He was once using this room so his spirit lingered here."

I looked over to Chitanda and saw her eyes shining. Now I'm even more nervous.

"It is said that anyone who enters the room will be judged by the spirit. If you're good, you'll get a reward. If you're bad, you'll be pulled into the distortion realm to wander there for eternity."

I wasn't convinced and asked him further, "And? I can't believe people still believe in stories like that."

"That wasn't what I'm here for." He pointed to the bookcase. "If we move it to the side, I'm certain the sealed door would be there. Aren't you curious to what's behind it?

"Yes." answered Chitanda.

"No." I replied almost as quickly. "Now that it's over, I'm going home."

And once again, I was held back by Chitanda albeit softly.

"Oreki-san." She stated, her eyes still glowing with that purple hue.

"W-What?" I stuttered as she leaned in closer.

"What could be behind that bookcase? Is there actually a sealed door? Is there actually a spirit?" She looked down a bit before looking back up.

"I am curious!"

I winced at the word 'curious'. Plus, she was getting too close for my comfort so I gently pushed her.

"I am not." And with that statement, I hoped she got what I mean and I attempted to leave the room once and for all.

"Houtarou, I thought 'If I have to do it, I'll make it quick' was your motto." Satoshi shouted from behind my back.

"It still is."

"Then come back here. I'm sure this is what your sister wanted all along." I sighed at the statement and roughly turned around, throwing my bag on to the desk.

"Alright alright. Just push the damn bookshelf and we can get started." I sat down on one of the chair, rubbing my head in frustration.

Satoshi and Chitanda didn't notice this however as they radiated with enthusiasm. So much enthusiasm that it was sickening.

"Yessir!" He faked a salute and moved towards the bookshelves. Surprisingly, he pushed it aside with little to no effort.

And true to his words, a wooden door with a white piece of paper covered by unknown letters. Those letters somehow looked familiar to me but I couldn't figure out what it was.

Chitanda looked shocked while Satoshi looked like he expected this.

"Well…" He made an ominous smile, "Shall we go in…to the distortion world?!"

"B-But we're not ready yet! We need to stock up on materials and some more people. Also we-."

I got quite annoyed at Chitanda's rambling so I posed the question. "Before we go, check if we can actually get in."

"Oh, right." Satoshi moved in front of the door and attempt to twist the doorknob. As I expected, it was locked.

"See what I mean?" I stood up "Now that this is done, can I go home?" I decided to ask first as to not risk another shoulder-dislocating pull.

"Not yet, Oreki-san!" I sat down or rather; I dropped myself down on the chair. Chitanda looked like the stubborn type of girl.

Too much energy to handle.

But what if I made her work for me instead?

"Chitanda, when I first arrived here; you said that you thought of your garden and due to that, the flowers in your garden came here. How?"

Chitanda smiled at my question, "It's because I have control over Space."

What.

"Hmm, I guess you could say I can warp dimension." She smiled once more; delighted with her explanation.

"Eeh?" Satoshi gripped his chin, "Would you mind showing us?"

Nodding, Chitanda took a nearby book and place it on her palm. She used her free palm and place in on a nearby wall. The distortion appeared at both the book's location and the wall where she touched.

In a single moment, the book disappeared; leaving both me and Satoshi bewildered. It wasn't until we heard something dropping that we looked around, finding the book landing where the wall distortion was.

A simple warp spell. Or so it seemed…

It was enough for my plan however.

"If that's the case, why don't you just warp us to the other side of that door?" I waited to see her reaction. She hesitated at first but finally gave in. I thought she had no choice but to oblige, however…

"Unfortunately, I can't do that. I can only warp to a place that I have either seen or touch before."

Tch.

"Ah, it's okay, Chitanda-san." Satoshi assured Chitanda who was looking apologetic. "If we can't find an easy way, we'll just solve how to open that door."

Chitanda perked up "Maybe we can undo the seal on the door."

I looked outside and saw the sun setting. As I thought, this was taking too much of my time. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick.

"Maybe it's one of those 'See it from a different perspective' mystery!" Satoshi suggested eagerly, catching the attention of Chitanda.

A different perspective huh….

Chitanda tilted her head in question, as Satoshi began explaining. "What I was thinking is that we should try to unlock the door by using a different method besides unsealing it."

Different method…Familiar characters…

I twisted a loose strand of hair around my finger. Satoshi noticed this and called out to me.

"Houtarou, you figured out something?" He asked with confidence. I saw no need to lie so I nodded.

Bad move.

The moment I confirmed Satoshi's thoughts, Chitanda literally leaped in front of my face. This girl really needed to learn about personal space.

"Really, Oreki-san?! What is it?" She leaned in even more. I winced at the close contact before dismounting my chair, heading towards the door.

"This seal that you speak of," I pointed at the white paper, "Is nothing more than just a label."

"Label?"

Seeing their confusion, I tore off the white paper; much to their dismay. I flipped the paper over, confirming my suspicion.

"This paper is nothing more than a label, flipped over so that it seemed foreign." I handed it over to them. Sure enough, their reaction was what I expected.

"Storage room…" Satoshi muttered disappointingly. I would be disappointed too if I actually care about the rumors.

After letting them finished digesting the facts, I posed a question. "Now if that's all. Can I go _home_?" I stressed the last part, hoping they would get my desperation.

"Oreki-san!"

I almost wanted to punch myself at that moment but I faced her nonetheless.

"What is it this time?"

"You came to the Classics Circle to join it, right?" She asked eagerly. I was almost able to decline but Satoshi rudely interrupted me.

"Before you say anything, Houtarou, your sister wants you to join and revive the Classics Circle. Not just join it and leave after." He gave me that all-knowing look to which I sighed at.

"Fine! I'll join the circle…"

I looked around awkwardly until Chitanda lifted her hand up as if asking for something. I gave her a questioning look.

"Your application form, Oreki-san." She added a smile. I dug into my bag and pulled out said application form and handed it to her.

Inspecting the form, she nodded happily. "This is wonderful! I look forward to working with you, Oreki-san."

She bowed quickly, forcing me to bow out of courtesy too. "I look forward to working with you too, Chitanda."

I lifted my head up and assuming that nothing is going on, I went to the door. But due to the already horrible luck that I had today, Satoshi swung his arm over my shoulder and Chitanda's, bringing us under him.

"Guess what, Houtarou, Chitanda-san." I know that look in his eyes…Please no…

"I've decided to join the Classics Circle too!" Satoshi said the dreaded words to which Chitanda reacted cheerfully to.

"Thank you, Fukube-san. I'm sure we'll have tons of fun together!" She bowed again, making me wonder what kind of strict tradition her family had.

"I'll complete the form tomorrow!" Satoshi stated as he lifted his hands from us. He left the room just as quickly and I sighed. Again.

"See you tomorrow then, Chitanda." I waved her a goodbye.

"See you tomorrow too, Oreki-san."

As I walked out of the room and the gate, I began thinking. Why did I agree to joining the circle? Sis wouldn't even know if I joined or not. That circle is basically dead and I don't even think it had a purpose.

Whatever.

That Chitanda girl though. She appeared sweet and innocent but I was sure that she could drain my energy in a single instance. Why did I bring this problem upon myself…

_Fate really is a prick._


	2. To solve or not to solve?

**Second's chapter here and I do hope that you enjoy this one as well.**

_**Italic: Inner**** thoughts.**_

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_Big sisters are great at certain times and horrible at others. For some, sisters could give you love, caring, affection and all those stuffs. Some sisters however…._

This tension is too much. Too unbearable. Too…

Awkward…

I sometimes wondered how people in this world were able to sit in a room with the other party in total silence and not get any awkward moments.

Whatever.

I glanced over across the table and saw Chitanda, still reading a book with that smile plastered on her face. I looked back down to my own back but couldn't concentrate on the words. I was about to give out to the tension but Chitanda surprisingly broke down first.

"Oreki-san!" She stood up, almost shouting.

"What?"

"It's barren!"

"Yeah, the room hasn't been used in a while so it is bare and dusty." Why did I come up with a pun, I'll never know.

"No that's not what I me-." She paused for a moment, letting the words flow through her. "That was a pun, wasn't it?!"

This girl really has a troublesome habit of leaning into other people's face.

"I know." I subconsciously moved my seat backward. "Lame, isn't it?" I nervously tried to laugh through my current predicament.

Luckily, she pulled her face back, much to my comfort and sat down.

"No, I did not mean it like that. It's just…" She put one finger on her chin. "Our expedition group hasn't actually gone on an actual expedition yet."

'Yet'

That word somehow gave chills to me as I dreaded the thoughts of actually going out into the mountain, caverns or ruins to explore like my sis did.

"We don't actually have to go on an expedition you know?" I tried to come up with a better alternative to expedition.

I gulped as I prepared myself to utter the words that I never thought that I would.

"We could just… solve some mysteries instead..hehe." I rubbed my head nervously before looking over to Chitanda.

She appeared shocked for a moment before reverting back to her usual face.

_They just like to tease you, annoy you and use you like a tool. But my sis is not like that._

"That reminded me, Oreki-san. Why did you decide to join to Classics Expedition group?"

I saw no trouble telling her what got me into joining so I did. "My sis was actually part of this circle a long time ago. She just wants me to keep it from discontinuing."

"Well, what about you?" I asked nonchalantly. Chitanda looked over to window, to my surprise as I expected her to tell me her story enthusiastically.

"That is… well, I joined for personal reasons." She looked over to me apologetically, "Sorry that I can't tell you, Oreki-san."

"It's okay." If she doesn't want to tell me, then who am I to pry into her life? Just as I finished my thoughts, the door burst open; revealing my ever energetic friend, Fukube Satoshi.

"Satoshi…" I mumbled under my breath. The two didn't notice however, as they engaged in their own conversation.

"Hey there Chitanda-san. I got my application form!" He pulled it out and excitedly showed it to her. Chitanda appeared pleased as she hurriedly grabbed on to the paper, letting out a courteous smile.

"This is perfect, Fukube-san." She bowed as if it's a reaction when thanking someone. I dismissed it and focused on my book instead.

A few moments later and I felt like a pair of eyes staring at me. No, two pairs.

I looked up at saw Chitanda and Satoshi looking curiously at me. They appeared excited, as they always are.

"What?"

"Oreki-san!" For once, Chitanda didn't get into my face. "Fukube-san just told me an interesting story earlier. Do you want to hear it?"

I raised my eyebrows in suspicion before replying. "No, not really."

"Fukube-san, would you mind telling Oreki-san?" She shouted to Satoshi, oblivious to my former answer. The latter walked over to my desk briskly, placing his hands directly in front of my book.

Luckily, he didn't get into my face like Chitanda would.

"Well, Houtarou. Seeing as how you're interested and all, prepare your body and mind for this tale I'm about to tell you-."

"Just get it over with." I prematurely ended his speech.

"Pfff, you're no fun." He pouted for a moment before continuing, a single finger in the air; wagging around.

"So apparently… there is this B-rank quest poster on the bulletin board." I raised my eyebrow and Satoshi immediately understood my confusion.

"You know the one with the dragon on it?" I dug my mind to search out any quest posters with such a design on it.

Ah, that one.

"You mean the one where the client asked the guild to retrieve treasures supposedly lost in a dragon's den?"

"Yup, that one." He put down his finger, "You're ready for the shocking part?"

Even with the bored look on my face, even I couldn't deny that I was a tad…curious.

"So… after two days of putting up the poster, a couple of people took up the quest only to return the poster one day later."

"And that should be interesting…how?"

Chitanda decided to pique in on our discussion. "Even if it's a B-rank quest, they should've had it done by at least 2 or 3 days. Not one."

"Not only that." Satoshi added "The quest was returned incomplete."

I sighed, thinking up of the simplest answer that I could. "Maybe the quest was just too hard?"

"That's impossible, Oreki-san. The people who took up the quest were quite experienced in exploring, so it doesn't make sense that they wouldn't be able complete a simple B-rank quest."

"Maybe the rewards for the quest were underwhelming compared to their expectation?" I retorted.

"That's impossible, Houtarou. Even the basic explorers took their time to read what the mission requires and their rewards." He waved off my answers.

Before I could even answer, Chitanda asked timidly "Um, Fukube-san. Do you think that I could see the actual poster? I haven't been to the bulletin board all that often, hehe."

"Sure thing. I'm sure it's still there." Fukube quickly ran towards the door, signaling us to do the same. Chitanda followed suit just as quickly. I was left alone, to my relief.

However as I tried to immerse myself in my book again, the petite girl quickly returned and pulled my arm, much to my dismay.

I forced myself to follow along, if I don't want my arm to be dislocated like last time.

_My sis isn't like a girl, in a general sense. She likes to get dirty, explore ruins, chasms or caves. She also likes to put her little brother in uncomfortable situation like making him join a circle._

Satoshi waited for us patiently in the hallway and when he saw us, he immediately bolted towards his destination, prompting Chitanda to do the same.

And also me.

Our destination was surprisingly long even though it was just the bulletin board…or maybe, I was just out of shape?

Maybe, it's both.

But instead of walking to the bulletin board like we should've done, Satoshi led us to the guild administration.

I trudged behind both Satoshi and Chitanda to the front desk until a menacing voice caught my attention.

"**Oreki.**"

"Ibara…" I tried to make my voice as ominous as her but failed. "What are you doing here? I thought this was a place for the guild administrators, not a girl with short fuse."

The only reaction I evoked out of her was a simple cross of her arm and a smug look on her face.

"Say what you want, Oreki." She pointed towards a small badge on her chest, barely visible. "But I've been promoted to handle to frontlines."

Stop making this sound like a battlefield.

Before I would retort, Satoshi grabbed my shoulder and talked to Ibara instead. It was better this way. Even if I lived near Ibara longer, Satoshi was probably the only one that can make her open herself up.

"Sorry about his rude behavior, Ibara but we would like to see that B-rank fetch quest poster for a bit."

Ibara stared at Satoshi incredulously before bending down to reach for it in the archives. "Now you're doing it too? The quest was already finished yet the leader said to keep it in the archives where it was easy to reach."

She handed the poster over to Satoshi who started to inspect it. Chitanda, being the ever curious girl she was, peeked over Satoshi's shoulder.

I tried to look at some other quest posters as I was running short on money. Glancing over each quest as quickly as I could, I found one that might suit me. But before I could go grab it, something grab me first.

Rather, someone…

"Oreki-san, would you mind taking a look at this." She asked, her eyes already a shining shade of violet.

Of course, I mind. But she would just keep on pestering me until I agree to her antics so I settled for a grumble instead.

She took this as an agreement and gently pulled me towards Satoshi, who appeared very concentrated at the poster.

As I arrived, Satoshi handed me the poster so that I could inspect it. Satoshi's description was on point though it was a crude drawing of a dragon, lying in a cave. The description was rather simple.

-A rather important treasure was stolen.

-It currently resides in the Dragon Den.

-Please get it back.

It was a simple fetch quest as the Dragon Den had no dragons residing in it this season. As I remember correctly, this quest was among the one added 2 weeks ago or so. The season that allowed the dragons to migrate up north was 5 weeks ago, so that ruled out the possibility that a dragon stopped the explorer from reaching the treasures.

I handed it back to Satoshi and decided to ask Ibara on this matter. Well, at least try to.

"Ibara." I said as softly as I could, earning a glare from her. I felt like a prey that was being stalked. I gulped and continued.

"Could I see the list of those who took up this quest, only to return it?"

She continued to glare at me but eventually sighed and reached under her desk. At this time, Satoshi came closer to me.

"You got something." He whispered to me, making me feel slightly uncomfortable. I looked over to Chitanda who was still standing there, hands clasped together behind her back.

"Maybe." I whispered back, not wanting Chitanda to hear. Ibara dug out the quest book and flipped over to the page where the quest was recorded.

"Here you go." She pushed to heavy book to me. "Don't bother me unless you find a breakthrough. I need to archive today's quests too."

Fetching the book, which was quite heavy, I limped to a nearby table while Satoshi called Chitanda.

We laid out the book on the table and looked over the record. 4 people took up the quest while three returned it empty handed.

Seeing as the Classics circle finally gathered up, I pointed my finger over the names while my eyes were focused on Satoshi.

"Satoshi, check the names here." He stared at the name before replying with a simple thumb up. He took out his slightly smaller book and a runic pen, and began scribbling down.

Chitanda appeared quite confused at the action and asked me. "What is Fukube-san doing?"

Well, she has every rights to be confused.

"Satoshi prefer non-violent way to deal with his enemies so instead of him being directly in the fight, he uses his runes."

Chitanda nodded with every word.

"Though, I guess you could say that book is his database." I looked back at Satoshi, who was smiling as he kept on writing. "He is quite useful in information hunting."

"Done!" Satoshi slammed his hand over the book. I was quite startled but Chitanda just looked like a child who just witnessed a magic act.

"So, what's the info on them?" I asked just as quickly, to avoid any attention from the onlookers that heard his slamming.

"The first one, Sawakiguchi Misaki, is the head of the publicity department. Her job is to ensure that the public hear about our guild and such." He handed me the runic paper that he used which was inscribed with more detailed information.

"The second one,Kouchi Ayako, is part of a circle that is dedicated to finding treasures that are specifically paintings." Another paper that is inscribed was handed to me.

"Ah, you're researching about Kouchi-san?" came a voice that I did not want to hear. "Maybe I can help."

"Wait a minute, aren't you busy archiving today's quests?" I wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible. This two beside me are already draining my energy dry.

"Today's quests were little." She ignored me afterward and went to sit next to Fukube. "Anyway, back on the topic of Kouchi-san. She's also the owner of a clothing brand in town, if that can help you in anyway."

Satoshi appeared excited by this new information as he quickly noted it down on another piece of paper. As Satoshi was writing down, Chitanda leaned closer to me.

"Um, Oreki-san. What is the relationship between those two?" Chitanda asked, pointing softly at the two in front of her.

I decided that this was the best time for her to get acquainted with our temporary helper so I answered her.

"Satoshi and Ibara have this back-and-forth relationship, so to speak." I made sure Chitanda was listening before continuing, "For simplicity sake, Ibara has a crush and Satoshi but he hasn't respond to her yet."

I made sure that the last part was quiet as to avoid any backlashs from Ibara which, more often than not, were quite painful.

My thoughts were interrupted as Satoshi cleared his throat, done with scribbling down his new information.

"Alright, the third one is Irisu Fuyumi who is currently the crush of all the males in this guild building by the way."

My face was stoic to his joke while Ibara took it a bit more personally and elbowed him gently to his side.

"Back to the topic, she is known as The Empress or the Ice witch as she specializes in ice magic." He put his finger on his chin. "It is said that she is part of Sawakiguchi-san's circle as well even though most of her expedition are solo."

"As for the fourth one-."

"Stop right there, Satoshi. Three is enough." I said, looking at the three papers with all their information.

"If you say so, Houtarou." He closed his book and leaned slightly closer to me. In fact, all three people that was currently occupying the table did.

"What?"

"Well, you said you only need three, Oreki-san. Why is that?" Chitanda asked.

"Because the fourth one completed the quest so there's no way that the last one is related to them plus…" I showed them the three cards.

"These threes are A level explorers or higher so there's no way that they can't beat a simple B-rank quest."

This was taking too long. Useless questions didn't need to be answered but that's not a choice around Chitanda.

"Satoshi, hand me the poster." Satoshi did as he was told and gave me the poster. I took a closer look at it though there was nothing out of place from a normal poster.

I was considering giving it back until Chitanda peered from over my shoulder.

"What is it? You found something?"

"Well it's really small but…" She pointed to a spot near the dragon's tail. "This spot appears to contain a bit of light magic."

Since when did humans have built in light magic sensor?

However I decided to hold in my question in and instead asked on her she could sense it.

"Even if it's the case, how do you know?" I appeared skeptic towards this girl and her weird powers.

"Um, I told you that I have the ability to control space, right?" I nodded while Satoshi did the same though Ibara appeared a bit surprised.

"Well I can sense the magic aura in a certain area around me. So I can easily discern any magic that is not familiar to me."

"If you can do that then why didn't you tell me earlier?" I raised my eyebrow. The others noticed this and began putting their attention on Chitanda.

"Well…I was going to tell you but…" She looked down at her hands, just like a child who has been caught stealing cookies.

"I thought that Oreki-san has already solved it."

Stop treating me like a genius.

"Alright." I sighed. "Satoshi, does this poster contain any light magic?"

Satoshi took the poster and began using his runes magic on it. A couple of seconds later and he was done.

"It's like Chitanda-san said. It's really faint but it is still there."

I leaned back into my seat, digesting the new information down. The reason might not need to be anything logical, just as long as it was true.

"What do we usually use light magic for anyway?" I expected Satoshi to answer but Ibara quickly replied.

"For lightings, holographic writing, taking photograph. That's all the stuffs that I could think of right now."

This might be simpler than I thought.

I tucked on a piece of loose hair and twirled it around for a while. Three girls associated for being elites of the guild, light magic and a poster.

I finally stopped twirling my hair and found that all eyes were on me.

"What now?"

Chitanda was the first to speak up. "Well, we wouldn't want to interrupt your thoughts so we decided to wait until you finished."

She finished off with a smile, to which I grimaced at.

"Fine." I laid out the poster on the table. "Chitanda, tell me what you think of our guild's current logo."

Chitanda looked up for a moment before replying. "Well, while it is nice that it represents our town, the mountains on the logo are a bit…boring."

"Good. Now Ibara, would fitting something near the mountain be more attractive?"

Ibara stared at me as if testing me to question her but eventually stopped and answered my question.

"Well of course. Who would want to join a guild that is only centered around mountains?"

"Just as I thought." I turned to Satoshi, who appeared quite excited as if he was anticipating my question.

"Satoshi, if you have to pick one girl out of the three for being attractive and independent, who would It be?"

"Without a doubt, it is Irisu Fuyumi. Most of her expeditions are solo and her looks are the things that made her the crush of all the boys here." Ibara looked quite ticked and elbowed Satoshi again.

"What was that for?!" shouted Satoshi.

"Sorry. My arm jerked." She looked away with a loud 'Hmph!".

"That last part was unnecessary but thanks." I propped my head on my palm on the table. "Ibara, was there any meeting recently?"

She raised an eyebrow before answering "We had a meeting on how we can attract more people to the guild."

"Did they talk about some advertisements?"

"Of course. That's one of the big topics." She looked suspiciously at me. "What are you getting at here?"

"Not much but Mayaka. Can you take us to the publicity department?"

"Why?"

I sighed. The world would be a lot more efficient if people stopped questioning obvious things.

"Just do it. I'll explain later."

Mayaka reluctantly nodded and walked towards the publicity department. I trailed behind her for a while before Satoshi wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"So you're thinking what I'm thinking?" He said with a smile. A smile that was too contagious.

"Maybe. Maybe not." I smiled as well.

It wasn't long before we arrived at the department, which was quite noiseless compared to its assumed responsibility.

Two knocks and Sawakiguchi-san came out of the door.

"Yo, Ibara! What do you need?" She greeted cheerfully, doing a mock-salute in the process.

"My _friend _here." I didn't like the way she stressed the word 'Friend'. "Wanted to see something."

Seeing as that is my cue, I stepped up and asked her personally.

"Excuse me, Sawakiguchi-san but I am looking for the new guild's logo and advertisement poster; if you don't mind."

She smiled at my request and nodded before going into the room. We waited a bit before she came out with two pictures. One of the guild's new logo, which was a dragon wrapping itself around a mountain while the other is a picture of Irisu holding the poster, as if posing for the camera.

I received both of them and inspected them for a bit before handing one to Chitanda and the other to Satoshi, who was closer to Ibara.

The trio looked at me as if I was some sort of freak.

"You're weird, Oreki." Ibara said without any hesitation.

"I'm the most ordinary out of us all." I retorted before feeling a slight tug on my sleeve.

"Oreki-san...how did you figure this out?" Chitanda asked me, her eyes returning to their shining violet form.

Seeing as I had no way out, I decided to explain.

"The quest itself was simple and easy. Easy enough that those three could've completed it but they had something else in mind." I paused to lean on a nearby wall.

"Honestly, if I hadn't known that there are light magic on the poster; we wouldn't have solve this case." I looked around before continuing. "But the moment that Ibara mentioned a meeting about how to attract more people to the guild, it basically confirms my theory."

"Those three were borrowing the poster so that they could have materials to work with for the new logo and advertisments. Sawakiguchi-san was the one who came up with the idea, Kouchi-san handled the costumes and poses needed since she is the owner of a clothing brand while Irisu is the model." I finished my theory.

"Good theory, Houtarou but," Satoshi grinned, as if challenging me. "Why couldn't they just keep the poster until they finished it?"

"Because they were worried that new members can't find easy jobs to do. Those jobs at the bulletin board are A+ rankings."

Satoshi seemed satisfied at my explanation and so is Chitanda.

"I knew it; you are weird, Oreki." Ibara said with a weird tone in her voice.

"Well, Oreki. I had fun today but with the sun setting and all, I gotta go home!" Satoshi waved goodbye as I did the same. Ibara said farewell to Chitanda before returning to her administration duties.

I was going to do the same but Chitanda stopped me.

"Um, Chitanda, I think we should go home now. It's getting dark." I rubbed my neck.

"Oreki-san. I think it's wonderful on how you solve mysteries like these, that's why…" She clasped her hands together as if begging. "Come to the Café Garden tomorrow at 8 am!"

Café Garden, a regular spot that even I like to go to. The calm atmosphere plus the quietness there really sooths you.

"I can but why?"

"Please, just come!" And with that, she was gone. She appeared quite hasty as I watched her from behind.

Well; if I have to do it, I'll make it quick.

**Location: Café Garden**

She was late. Uncourteously late.

I checked my watch once more. Already 10 minutes have passed since our meeting time and I've already finished one cup of coffee.

As I began ordering for another one, the door swung opened and from it; Chitanda. She was wearing a rather loose blouse with her hair tied up in a ponytail.

"Pardon my tardiness, Oreki-san." She bowed a bit before taking a seat right in front of me.

"Don't worry about it." I decided to put my arms on the table. "Let get straight to the point. Why did you call me here?"

Chitanda appeared surprised at the question before calming herself down. What is this? A manga confession?

I was unnerved by her silence so I blurted out my thoughts. "What is this? A confession?"

"You could say…it's confession of sorts."

I gulped and called out to the waiter for another cup of coffee.

"Actually Oreki-san!" She stood up, pressing her hands on the table. I winced at all the noise she was making.

"I have a request!"

_Sis, why did I leave my life decisions in your hands?_

* * *

**Minor note: Do remember that this will be a fantasy fanfiction and thus, some characters might be OOC. Also, I'm basing most of the events on the original Hyouka(With some little twists)**


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